Friday, February 09, 2007

Plan to Open Staples Store Being Studied

Plan to Open Staples Store Being Studied By Ines Bebea

FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield Planning Division is studying a proposal to open a Staples office supply store on Oliver Road. The space was vacated when the Ford dealership relocated its operations to the Auto Mall on Auto Mall Parkway.

If the plan is approved, the three acres of land would be divided between Staples and a yet-to-be-determined retailer. The Staples store would be built on 20,390 square feet, leaving 4,660 square feet for the other tenant.

The architect for the project is Tom Wilson from Arc. Inc.

"This is the first proposal that has been filed for that site," said Jasmin Dairyt, an assistant planner with the Fairfield Economic Development Division. "We don't foresee any major problems with bringing the store to Fairfield."

A final decision hasn't been made on the project because the Planning Division is still finalizing design issues, Dairyt said.

Currently, the other only office supply retail chain store in Fairfield is OfficeMax, located in the Westfield Solano mall. The nearest Staples store is in Vacaville.

"We don't comment on plans where we have not signed a lease for the retail space," said Mylissa Tsai, a spokesperson for Staples. "But California is certainly an area that we are interested in. We are always looking to bring our services to more customers."

Staples is on schedule to open 100 stores nationwide this year, Tsai added. In California, it recently opened stores in San Bernardino, Riverbank and Encinitas.

"Our goal is to bring our products to areas where there is business activity," Tsai said. "From our customers' response, we have learned that businesses like to have a store in close proximity to where they operate. And we want to be located in a high visibility and accessibility area."